The Real Housewives of New Jersey – Season 6 Ratings

Updated Wednesday August 20th 2014, after S06E06 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey aired at 8pm on Sunday August 10th 2014.Bookmark this page for our regular updates

After recording a ratings gain of 254,000 for last week’s fifth episode all of that and more was lost this week when total viewership fell on the week by -290,000 viewers in total, as this topsy-turvy ratings season of RHoNJ continued. These ratings declines also meant that for the third consecutive week The Real Housewives of Orange County remains firmly entrenched as Bravo TV’s #1 rated show.

Last Sunday at at 8pm 1,717,000 viewers tuned in which represents a -14.45% decrease on the week with 290,000 fewer people watching than tuned in for last week’s fourth episode. In the more important P18-49 demographic this episode’s ratings declines were not quite as large; dropping -12% on the week – down 141,000 from last week’s 1,175,000 to 1,034,000 viewers aged between 18-49 years. This P2+ rating is the second lowest this season (S06E02 remains the least watched episode), and in the P18-49 demographic, Sunday’s 6th episode is the third lowest demo rating this season. After each of episodes 2, 3 & 4 fell below 2m viewers Bravo Media won’t be too happy that RHoNJ has again this week fallen below that psychologically important 2m mark.

Through six episodes RHoNJ is averaging 1,858,000 P2+ viewers; a deficit of -21.43% when compared with last season’s 2,364,667 average at the same episode stage. In the 18 to 49 year old demographic this season’s averaging 1,073,833 which is a -21.29% decline from that season’s 1,364,333 P18-49 average. When compared to Seasons’ Four & prior, these ratings deficits climb from to -33.22% lower than Season Four’s P18-49 average audience of 1,619,400 P18-49 and -37.35% versus Season Three’s 1,768,500; both after six episodes of those respective seasons.

At 9:30pm this same episode aired again and its P2+ rating was identical to last week’s 9pm repeat with 741,000 P2+ viewers. The number of P18-49 viewers for the repeat grew by 51,000 viewers and so its possible that some time shift viewing occurred from those who had watched the prior weeks 8pm airing.

Still, there not a lot pf positive ratings prose that can yet be written about this season, and I am wondering if it is going to take a while for viewers to get to know the new cast members and more important, get to like them enough to make RHoNJ once again a ‘must watch’ Bravo TV show?

You can see the Full Ratings Table with comparisons with each prior season premiere on Page 2

Check out Alex McCord’s reviews & insider commentary on each episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey (starting with the most recent) here.

Full Season Summary

In a smart but perhaps also exploitative sense of timing, Bravo Mediayesterday announced that the sixth season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey will premiere at 8pm on Sunday July 13th, 2014, as they hope to capitalize on the publicity surrounding the sentencing of convicted fraudsters; Teresa Giudice and her husband Joe Giudice, in a New jersey Federal Court five days earlier.

Whether this will work remains to be seen. Certainly Teresa Giudice has a large, loyal and committed fan base, however when she & Joe first appeared in Court last year during the airing of Season 5, not only was there not a corresponding increase in ratings but in fact RHoNJ’s ratings declined subsequent to the fraud charges being announced. Additionally and perhaps because of the criminal allegations, last season was the lowest rated of RHoNJ’s five seasons and for Live + Same Day viewership it averaged 2,289,636 viewers aged two years and over, with 1,307,455 of them aged between 18 & 49 years – demo 1.03. (Their Second Season remains their highest rated with 2.72m total viewers and scoring 1.43 in the 18-4 demo.)

Additionally last season’s first eleven episodes averaged almost 2.5m viewers with 1.43m aged 18-49 but the second half of the season (episodes 11 to 22), which more or less correlated to the timing of their initial court appearances, recorded ratings declines of -14.69% and -17.22% respectively to 2.1m and 1.18m aged 18-49, and so RHoNJ’s ratings statistics would seem to show that allegations of serious financial fraud, are not only not a ratings boon for the network, but in fact caused the ratings to decline.

Like The Real Housewives of New York City & The Real Housewives of Orange County before it, Bravo Media and producers Sirens Media have made significant cast changes with three of last year’s housewives fired or not returning to the show on a full time basis. Gone are original cast members Jacqueline Laurita and Caroline Manzo as well as Kathy Wakile who joined in the third season. Replacing them is returning original housewife Dina Manzo, presumably so Teresa Giudice has the support of at least one cast member, as well as three other newbies; identical twins Nicole Mauriello and Teresa Aprea as well as fellow resident of New Jersey’s Colt’s Neck area Amber Marchese who is a long time friend of Melissa Gorga’s.

Prior to the Giudice’s sentencing it’s very difficult to predict with any certainty what impact that their probable jailing will have on this season’s ratings, but from what I can deduce Bravo TV’s viewers are getting sick & tired of watching criminals continue to remain on Bravo Media’s payroll. I predict that this season’s premiere will fall short of RHoNJ’s last three premieres (all of which were between 2.8m & 2.9m viewers), and continue to fall thereafter and by season’s end the sixth season of RHoNJ will rate even lower than last year’s fifth season.

“The Real Housewives of New Jersey” is produced by Sirens Media, LLC for Bravo. Rebecca Toth Diefenbach, Valerie Haselton and Lucilla D’Agostino serve as executive producers.

This season, Teresa and her husband, Joe, fight to keep their family intact as they embark on a very public legal battle for their freedom. Teresa’s oldest friend and veteran Housewife, Dina, returns to help her soul-sister, but ends up revealing her own private pain. With a divorce on the horizon and her daughter, Lexi, heading off to college, Dina attempts to face her fear of dating in the 21st century. Things do not come up smelling like roses this season for Melissa, as she partners with her husband, Joe Gorga, hoping to begin a career in the sanitation business. Melissa’s friend from the past, Amber, a no-nonsense Jersey native and breast cancer survivor, tries to rekindle their friendship, but stirs up trouble in the process. Nicole and Teresa are identical twins with an over-the-top Neapolitan style. Teresa and her husband, Rino, own one of the most prestigious Italian restaurants in Little Italy. Nicole is a two-time divorcee, struggling to balance her career as a jet broker and her new relationship with a man her family doesn’t approve of. The six ‘Wives begin to form a strong bond, but when shocking rumors of infidelity and backstabbing surface, it threatens to tear their friendships to pieces.